Partnership with National Eating Disorders Association

I have been an advocate for eating disorders recognition and treatment long before I became Miss Appalachia. Since struggling with my own battle against anorexia as a young teen, I have been a proponent for helping people understand eating disorders ever since. Focusing my studies initially in college towards nutrition and then shifting to family counseling, my goal has always been to be involved in eating disorders recovery. After giving mulitple seminars and presentations on influencing factors of eating disorders during college, I decided to complete a volunteer internship at the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt Psychiatric Hospital.

The biggest issue I feel related to eating disorders is co-morbidity, which is how I chose my platform. I found that even caretakers of ED patients did not fully understand the circumstances that surrounded the illness. An ED is more than simply the restriction, purging, or bingeing of food; it is a manifestation as an outlet of control.

Co-morbidity is a term that can be defined as the accompianment of another diagnosable disease/illness in conjuction with an ED (or any other illness). Depression is the most common illness associated with an ED but it is not limited. Once initial feelings of low self esteem and poor body image develop as a result of family troubles, peer pressure, lack of acceptance, or sports committment (etc.), an ED influenced by depression is only a step away. This is where I would like to take a stand. I would like people to RECOGNIZE the signs and take preventative cautions against the development of ED's. If people don't recognize that sadness, low self esteem, feeling at a loss of control, and perfectionist tendencies all play a role in ED development then ED's will continue to be the leading cause of death for women aged 15 to 24.

I have teamed up with NEDA, the National Eating Disorders Association, to participate and volunteer in their upcoming Walk against Eating Disorders. I'm extremely excited to begin my work with NEDA and I hope that with my contribution ED research will be on the rise. Shockingly, even though ED's are the most deadly mental illness, they are the least funded and researched.

Please visit my advocacy page for NEDA which is located on the right hand side of my blog. Just click the link and help support a cause that is so close to my heart.